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SENIORS: BE OUTRAGED, BUT THEN TAKE STRONG ACTION
MEDICARE IS ON
THE BLOCK
April 17-24, 2011-Updated
February 1, 2013
 Be
outraged! You will find no shared sacrifice in THIS bill. And
I consider it to be an immoral outrage. On April 5, 2011, Rep.
Paul Ryan, (Republican-Wisconsin), unveiled the
Republican so-called "Path to Prosperity". On April 15, 2011,
the Republican House passed it. But the only ones walking down
Ryan's prosperity path are his wealthy friends. While taking a
machete to the senior Medicare program, children's programs,
and the unrepresented poor, he proposes to lower the maximum
tax rate for the top earners among us from 35%
to 25%
- - - a 28.5%
decrease. 35%
is already near a modern low for the top tax rate on the
wealthy. During the Eisenhower administration it was as high
as 91%.
For God's sake, how much reduction is enough?
 Furthermore,
this tax break for the wealthiest would suck out most of the
cuts that Ryan proposes, so any budget reduction is being
gift-wrapped and sent directly to corporate officers, hedge
fund managers, surgeons. sports figures, big time
lawyers, stock brokers, and bankers. Fifty three Billion will
go as benefits to oil companies. Billions more will go to
banks, and huge corporate farms being paid "not to grow
something". The big boys seem to have escaped any need for
sacrifice in our efforts to "balance the budget". There is NO,
OR VERY LITTLE DEBT REDUCTION IN THIS RYAN PLAN. No, it all
goes to the privileged. Just get those damned Seniors, kids,
and the unrepresented poor. You know, those drags on society.
Those ones that Rush Limbaugh has called "human debris".
Representative Ryan's proposal will be voted on by the House
this week. Watch the vote. It will be a vote on the greatest
transfer of wealth to the super-rich in history. (Was, in
fact, passed with NO Democrat's votes on April 15, 2011)
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I want
to state something very clearly at this point, and
many of you will not like it one bit. Many Republicans
on the Right want to end Social Security, Medicare,
and Medicaid, as well as many education and children's
programs. The upper-end "anointed" among us don't need
these programs, and have resented any contributions
made to them now or in the past. They didn't want
universal health insurance programs because they are
very well taken care of, thank you. Why Seniors have
leaned toward the Republican party in recent years is
a great mystery to me.
I hope all of my fellow senior
citizens, especially those whom the
Republicans scared into voting for that
Party of Fear, will take note of the
GOP's proposed budget with its deep,
major cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. Do
you really think that the GOP cares for
you? The Republicans opposed Social
Security and for decades vowed to repeal
it. They opposed Medicare and Medicaid,
and now they oppose any real health care
reform. In other words, the Republican
Party has loudly and acidly opposed
every legislation designed to aid and
improve the lives of senior citizens.
They do
not represent our interests.
The question is
whether this President will.
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But our
problems do not end with the House of Representatives. The
Republican co-chairman of President Obama's Deficit Reduction
Commission showed his proclivities, saying that Seniors were
"Sucking on the teats of America." We Seniors have, and are
still paying for our benefits. They are called "entitlements"
because we are entitled to them. and have paid for them. We
are sucking on nothing, except the poisonous rhetoric that is
coming out of Washington at the moment.
And I must
tell you, our problems do not end with the House of
Representatives and the Deficit Reduction Commission. We are
told that on Wednesday, President Obama, the compromiser and
give-awayer-in chief, will present HIS blueprint for bringing
down the deficit. After watching some of his earlier
interactions with this Republican House, I no longer trust
many of his actions. SeniorArk readers know that we very
strongly supported Obama for the Presidency. But this support
can end, and will end, if we begin to see a race between
Republicans and the President to see who can slice the most
out of Medicare, Medicaid, and children's programs.
This is the
week where we shall see who is for the people, and who is for
the wealthy corporate, donation-giving fat-cats. It may well
be time for Seniors to express their outrage, and in very
unpleasant ways.
We will be
watching the week as it unfolds, and will present more on this
subject in our next rant.
Bob Fassbach,
editor, www.SeniorArk.com
UPDATE(1): 4-13-11 - I
hope you listened to the President's budget speech this
afternoon. Among other things, he stated that he will not
allow the Republicans to shift over $6,000 in annual Medicare
costs to Seniors. He said that Medicare and Social Security
are pacts with America's Seniors, and he will not allow them
to be destroyed by the Ryan proposals. But, be aware, this is
his starting position. I am still suspicious that this
President has had a tendency to give far more than necessary
to the Republicans. Watch this carefully. We cannot afford to
be asleep, or to say that we have no power to change things.
Politicians read - -and count - - emails and phone calls.
UPDATE (2): 4-15-11
-
Democrats are salivating at the prospect of the Republican
House of Representatives voting this afternoon on the radical
Ryan budget proposal, "Road to Prosperity". The proposal
guts Medicare, while giving a 2.6 TRILLION additional tax
break to the most wealthy Americans. It also gives BILLIONS to
oil companies, and other business interests. Read reports
below.
UPDATE (3): 4-15-11 - This afternoon the
Republican House of Representatives passed the
Medicare-Gutting, so-called "Road to Prosperity". The only
prosperity in this bill is for the upper two percent of
earners, and will devastate standard of living and the
healthcare of future Seniors. DO NOT
BELIEVE THAT THIS WILL NEVER AFFECT CURRENT SENIORS.
This was only a first strike, and benefits for current
Seniors could well be on the table next. The budget cannot
be balanced now, by waiting until 54 yr olds retire in eleven
years. They want our Medicare and Social Security long
before that. We doubt that it could be passed by this
Senate, or signed by this President. The
Republicans claim they are saving Medicare. During the last
election, Tea Party members were screaming, "Don't let the
government touch my Medicare." Where are they today? Instead
they are allowing the Republicans to create a stinking,
useless, carcass of the former Medicare. Let your feelings be
known to your government servants below.
YOU
MUST TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY:
Contact
your Senators
Contact your Representative in
Congress
Contact the President
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READ MORE:
USA Today -
Catalina Camia -
April
25, 2011
Some Republicans in Congress are getting an earful back
home over their votes to dramatically revamp Medicare for
seniors. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Killing Medicare won't solve nation's problems
NorthJersey.com - April 22, 2011
The US government would
assign approximately $8000 to purchase private health
insurance for each senior once he or she turned 67 years of
age. If they were ill or older, the voucher amount would be
slightly higher. But under the Republican plan, ...
Huffington
Post (blog) - April 22, 2011
How debates are
framed is critical because the "center" or "middle ground"
is supposedly halfway between the two extremes... Baloney.
According to the most recent Washington Post-ABC
poll, 78 percent of Americans oppose cutting spending
on Medicare as a way to reduce the debt, and 72 percent
support raising taxes on the rich -- including 68 percent
of Independents and 54 percent of Republicans
Salon -
Andrew Leonard -
April 21, 2011
Video By Andrew Leonard Every
Democratic legislator needs to sit down and watch the
video of Paul Ryan appearing at a town hall meeting in
Wisconsin on Wednesday. A constituent lays out the problem
of growing concentration of wealth in the top one ...
Are Seniors Paying Attention to Paul
Ryan's Plan for Medicare?
Huffington Post
(blog) April 18, 2011
I'm betting that many of them, if they're
paying attention to what Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., wants to do
to the Medicare program, are having some serious buyer's
remorse.
msnbc.com April 18, 2011
By many
measures, Americans pay less than most other developed
nations. All in, the tax burden in Demark consumes some 48
percent of that country's GDP. In the U.S., the burden is
roughly half that, with 24 percent of GDP going toward taxes.
That puts the U.S. on the low end of the tax burden among
developed countries.
The budget: Republicans
sticking it to seniors
Cleveland Plain Dealer
(blog) April 17, 2011
They opposed Medicare and Medicaid, and now they oppose
any real health care reform. In other words, the Republican
Party has loudly and acidly opposed every legislation designed
to aid and improve the lives of senior citizens. ..
Pulling the Plug on Medicare
April
15, 2011 - The Tax Policy Center said Ryan’s plan for major
tax cuts will decrease tax revenue by $2.9 trillion over the
next 10 years. His proposal to make the Bush tax cuts for the
wealthy permanent will increase the budget deficit while
continuing subsidies for oil companies and agriculture for his
home state constituents.
Republican
Medicare, Republican socialism, massive Republican tax
increase
The Hill
- April 15, 2011
Ryan would destroy and end Medicare. He would replace a
government program with taxpayer-subsidized vouchers to pay
price-gouging companies. Insurers would of course raise their
premiums even higher, and by limiting the size of the voucher
subsidies, Ryan is effectively proposing one of the largest
middle-class tax increases in history.The
House has passed a FY2012 budget plan that would cut trillions
from the federal deficit over the next decade and
fundamentally transform the current Medicare system. The vote
in favor of the budget proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.,
...
CBO: Seniors
would pay much more for Medicare under Ryan (Republican) plan
MiamiHerald.com -
Julie Appleby, Mary Agnes Carey -
Posted by SeniorArk April 14, 2011
WASHINGTON
— Seniors and people with disabilities would pay much more for
Medicare under a new plan by Republicans in the House of
Representatives that's aimed at curbing the nation's growing
...
GOP
BUDGET PLAN WOULD REVAMP MEDICARE AND MEDICAID TO SLASH
DEFICIT
Los Angeles
Times - Kathleen Hennessey - April 3, 2011
The 2012 budget strategy outlined by Republican Rep. Paul
Ryan promises $4.4 trillion in savings over the next 10 years
and takes a dramatically different approach from what
President Obama has proposed
Read More
Paul
Ryan: How his GOP budget would change Medicare
Christian Science Monitor -
Peter Grier -
2:08 PM April 5, 2011
Rep. Paul Ryan released the GOP's 2012 budget Tuesday. The
budget would reform Medicare, the primary driver of long term
national debt. Here's what the Paul Ryan plan would change.
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R) of
Wisconsin
touts his ...
Big Health
Cost Shift to Elderly in GOP Plan
ABC News -
Alan Fram, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar - April
6, 2011
AP By ALAN FRAM and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR AP AP House
Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., works with
Republican members of the committee on... Partisan divisions
hardened Wednesday around the new House GOP budget, hailed by
backers as a ...
IS THIS NEXT? -
Is Social
Security Safe with the Tea Party in Power?
Daily
Finance - By JOSEPH LAZZARO April 11, 2011
If Ryan and the Tea Party sense they can win and dismantle
Medicare, your Social Security payment will be next.
The proposals are likely to start innocuously enough. The
Tea Party's leadership will trot out statements like "Social
Security is broke," (which it isn't, really) and "We have to
cut payments because there's no other way to 'save' the
program."
If retirees today think a little inflation is reducing their
purchasing power and a making it hard to live within a budget,
wait until they -- and eventually, all of us -- feel the
impact of a 10% or even 20% cut in Social Security payments. |
